KEPRI - Ticket prices from Sri Bintan Pura International Port, Tanjungpinang City, Riau Islands to Stulang Laut Port, Malaysia have increased 100 percent. The increase was also experienced with the aim of Tanjungpinang to Singapore.
Riau Islands community leader, Rudy Chua, who is also a former hotelier, in Tanjungpinang, said that the price for a boat ticket for adults from Tanjungpinang to Malaysia is Rp. 420,000, while for departure and return tickets, which are purchased at once (twoways) are Rp. 700,000.
The price of a boat ticket for the Tanjungpinang-Malaysia route for children is IDR 300,000 / person. "Twoways" boat tickets for children IDR 400,000/person.
Likewise, the ticket price from Tanjungpinang to Tanah Merah Port, Singapore for a one-way trip is Rp. 450,000/person, while for return and departure tickets, Rp. 880,000/person.
"I think it is necessary to adjust the price at the beginning of opening access to foreign travel. If the price is high, residents may not go to Malaysia or Singapore," said Rudy, who is also a member of Commission II of the Riau Islands DPRD.
The former chairman of the Riau Islands Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association also said ticket prices from Bandar Telani Port, Bintan, Lagoi to Singapore and Malaysia rose 100 percent.
"Even from a number of ports in Batam to Singapore and Malaysia up more than 100 percent. From Batam to Singapore Rp. 350,000 / person for one trip, while for return tickets and go Rp. 500,000," he said, quoted from Antara.
According to him, the ticket price is not the only cost that must be incurred by citizens who want to go to Singapore and Malaysia, but also the cost of the PCR swab test in that country, which is a mandatory requirement for returning to Tanjungpinang, Bintan or Batam. The cost of a PCR test in Singapore for a normal examination is IDR 1 million/person, and it takes more than 8 hours to get the results.
Meanwhile, the average Riau Islands residents who visit Malaysia and Singapore return home every day. They do not stay overnight for various reasons, except for special needs such as medical treatment.
"Mostly what happened before the pandemic, residents who visited Malaysia and Singapore did not stay overnight. Of course, with high costs, they objected," he said.
For example, today. The inaugural voyage from Tanjungpinang to Malaysia and Singapore had only 16 passengers. Even though this inaugural voyage was carried out after two years of activity at the international port being vacuum. This condition, of course, makes shipping companies suffer losses.
"There are two things that must be done, firstly, adjusting the price of ship tickets. And secondly, reducing the mandatory requirement for the PCR test to become an antigen test. This has been done by the Singapore government to stimulate foreign tourists to come to the country," he said.
Previously, Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad said the results of the PCR test from Singapore as a condition for entering Riau Islands were quite burdensome for residents, because the price of the PCR swab test was expensive. Therefore, he asked the central government to give discretion to Riau Islands in an effort to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting Riau Islands.
"We ask the central government to provide a special policy to increase foreign tourists to Riau Islands," he said.
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